


the unexamined life is not worth living: a rumination on male adolescence

by Anonymous



Category: Adventure Time, The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger
Genre: A Thesis on the Nature of Humanity, Adolescence, Bad Art, Coming of Age, Crossover, M/M, Nonnies Made Me Do It, Philosophy, Self-Discovery, bildungsroman, tw: smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 18:48:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 0
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2319692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two young men stand poised at the cusp of adulthood. Might they find solace in their shared philosophical ideals? FinnxHolden: this is the beginning of their future, and they are the future of a generation. Rated M for Mature ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the unexamined life is not worth living: a rumination on male adolescence

**Author's Note:**

> (1) The title is, of course, a reference to Derrida's classic text on the individual's philosophy of life, 'On Liberty'. 
> 
> (2) The themes of loneliness and isolation in Finn the Human's quest for human 'kinship' within the boundaries of Ooo have always brought to mind Holden's deliberate rejection of the status quo, and his quest for 'authenticity'. As Finn searches for another human in his world of fantastical beasties, so does Holden search for the truth concealed beneath New York's 'phony' artifice; while Finn finds himself, through no action of his own, cast out and 'ostracised' from the non-human population by virtue of his 'humanity', Holden chooses to shun his city's human population, and instead to forge his own perceptions of what constitutes 'humanity'. Finn is 'the human', and while Holden rejects 'phoniness' - in other words, while he rejects 'falsehood', or 'the other' - he positions himself as the sole arbiter of 'reality', and, therefore, the arbiter of what can and cannot be designated 'human'. With this art, I have tried and, I believe, more than adequately succeeded, in drawing out these parallels and giving life to the philosophical commonalities these two young men so evidently share.

[](http://imgur.com/YaMipK9)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [the unexamined life is not worth living: a rumination on male adolescence](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2326202) by Anonymous 




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